You know it’s bad when people are starting to reminisce fondly about the good old days of the pandemic lockdown.

Ah, remember when the beaches were empty? Even if Covid-19 restrictions meant no one could sit on the sand, it was still OK to be in the ocean, and from there, you could behold the uncrowded shoreline.

Ah, remember when even the H-1 felt like the open road and traffic noise was down to almost nothing at night? It was so good when we had nowhere to go.

Ah, remember when it felt like Hawaii had more elbow room even though we were stuck inside our homes, up to our elbows in family and Zoom school?

The difficult lockdowns served as a respite from the burden tourism puts on local life. There are so many people who come to Hawaii.

Lockdowns also gave Hawaii residents a break from each other. There are so many people who come to Hawaii and stay.

As tourism numbers have spiked in recent years, so has Hawaii’s population. The 2020 census data found that Hawaii’s population grew 7% to 1.45 million people over the last decade.

Oahu alone added 63,000 residents. There are days when it feels like every one of those 63,000 people has a car and is sitting in gridlock on the H-1 near Aloha Stadium or circling for parking at Magic Island.

It’s one thing to try to get a handle on the out-of-control tourism numbers. It’s quite another to even suggest that there are too many people living on these small islands. Nobody ever says that in polite company or if they’re seriously running for elected office in this blue state. It implies that some people will have to leave, and that brings up all sorts of troubling prospects.

No, the way Hawaii’s crowded conditions are always discussed are in terms of “more housing,” never “fewer people.”

Versions of “more housing” turn into campaign pledges.

More housing must be built on former productive agriculture lands. More housing must be built because homes that used to be for the middle class are now being scooped up by people with money and flipped into monster homes or mini-apartment complexes. More housing must be built because rental properties for local families are being taken off the market to be turned into illegal vacation rentals. More housing for the keiki, for the kupuna, for the smart expats who left Hawaii long ago for better housing, better career opportunities and more breathing room — they just might lower their standards and come back.

The solution to “more people” is always “build more stuff,” which is never a realistic solution on islands with finite space.

There’s something even more difficult to talk about than Hawaii’s increasing population: its changing racial and ethnic makeup.

When the census was released last week, The New York Times used a map to illustrate the point that the nation is becoming more diverse. The headline over the map read: “Where the Racial Makeup of the U.S. Shifted in the Last Decade.” Counties where the share of people of color increased were indicated with blue arrows.

The country is covered with blue arrows. America is becoming more diverse. The census uses the diversity index to measure the probability that two people chosen at random will be from different race and ethnicity groups. Hawaii has the highest diversity index of any state, at 76%. The next highest is California, at 69.7%.

The solution to “more people” is always “build more stuff,” which is never a realistic solution on islands with finite space.

Counties where the share of white population increased in the last decade were indicated on the map with red arrows. There were only a few red arrows on the U.S. map, but one streaked right across Molokai. White people make up the largest racial or ethnic group in Maui County at 31.5%. Whites are also the largest racial group on Kauai and Hawaii island. Hawaii is still the most diverse state in the country, but Native Hawaiians aren’t even in the top three racial or ethnic groups in Hawaii.

The question has been asked over the decades: What is Hawaii without Hawaiians?

Is it mountain waterfalls? Those are being overrun by tourists taking selfies and breaking their ankles.

Is it white sand beaches and the sparkling ocean? Also overrun, sunscreen-bleached and a theater for tourists’ misjudgments.

Is it quiet neighborhoods with little wooden houses where people bring each other fruits from their backyards and paina in the garage late into the night? Those are being bought up by malihini and remade into homes better suiting their aesthetic.

The erosion of Hawaii is not just about numbers, it’s about aesthetics, values, open spaces. But the census provides the data that backs up the anecdotes, and it confirms what many already feel.